In the Pro Tools Expert 2017 Christmas Competition, we offered the chance of winning a copy of Ozone 8 Advanced from iZotope worth $499, as one of 31 great prizes on offer worth over $16,000 in total. We can announce that Antonio Morales is the lucky winner. You can learn more about Antonio further down the article.

What Is Ozone 8 Advanced?

iZotope has released Ozone 8. The Advanced versions of Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 feature ground-breaking technology, including the ability to communicate with each other through the new Tonal Balance Control plug-in. This new level of inter-plug-in communication is designed to put more power in users’ hands, allowing you to produce tonally balanced, professional mixes and masters that sound great in any listening environment.

Ozone 8 now features machine learning technology with the introduction of Master Assistant, allowing you to reach an optimal starting point for your master in seconds. Version 8 also includes Track Referencing, a Spectral Shaper to tame problematic frequencies, improved signal processing, and refinements to the user interface and workflow.

Create a custom preset with Master Assistant and get your audio to an optimal starting point

Have deeper control in Ozone’s Maximizer with new low-latency IRC mode, Transient/Sustain Stereo Independence, and Learn Threshold

Apply any saturation mode (Warm, Retro, Tape, Tube, Triode, or Dual Triode) to any individual frequency band in the Exciter

Use Ozone Advanced within your preferred host as a single plug-in, as individual component plug-ins, or work within the Ozone standalone application

Redesigned user interface for an even better mastering experience

Ozone 8 Feature Comparison

Feature

Elements

Standard

Advanced

NEW MASTER ASSISTANT

Intelligent custom preset utility

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Reference track optimization

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NEW TONAL BALANCE CONTROL

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Inter-plugin Communication with Neutron and Ozone

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Broad or fine view

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EQ remote control

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Low-end crest factor meter

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Custom import tagets

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NEW! TRACK REFERENCING

Intelligent track segmentation

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Import up to 10 reference tracks

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Reference gain slider

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Waveform view

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Overlaid reference spectra

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NEW! SPECTRAL SHAPER

Flexible frequency selection

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Available as module

●

Available as plug-in

●

IMPROVED MAXIMIZER

NEW! Stereo Independence

●

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NEW! Threshold learn

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●

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NEW! Threshold & Ceiling Link

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●

●

NEW! IRC LL (Low Latency)

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IMPROVED! IRC IV

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IRC III

●

●

IRC I & II

●

●

●

Available as plug-in

●

IMAGER

NEW! Link Bands

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●

Stereoize mode

●

●

●

Antiphase prevention

●

●

Integrated vectorscope and correlation meter

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●

●

Stereo width spectrum view

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●

●

Available as module

●

●

●

Available as plug-in

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EQUALIZER

Surgical mode

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●

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Baxandall, proportional Q, band shelf, high, low shelf filter shapes

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●

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Mid/side mode

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●

●

Match EQ

●

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Additional post equalizer module

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Additional post equalizer plug-in

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Available as module

●

●

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Available as plug-in

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DYNAMIC EQ

Mid/side mode

●

●

Auto scale mode

●

●

Available as module

●

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Available as plug-in

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EXCITER

NEW! Per-band Exciter modes

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NEW! Link bands

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Triode & dual triode modes

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Retro, tape, warm, and tube modes

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●

Available as module

●

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Available as plug-in

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VINTAGE COMPRESSOR

NEW! Improved ballistics and sound quality

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Mid/side mode

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Available as module

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Available as plug-in

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VINTAGE TAPE

NEW! 7.5 IPS setting

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15 & 30 IPS setting

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Available as module

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Available as plug-in

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VINTAGE LIMITER

Tube, analog, and modern modes

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●

Threshold & ceiling link

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●

True peak limiting

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●

Available as module

●

●

Available as plug-in

●

VINTAGE EQ

Available as module

●

Available as plug-in

●

DYNAMICS

Learn mode

●

●

Adaptive release mode

●

●

Mid/side mode

●

●

Available as module

●

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Available as plug-in

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ADDITIONAL FEATURES

Professionally designed presets

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Standalone application with SRC™

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Multiband modes

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Codec preview

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Dither

●

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I/O section

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Audition panel

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●

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Undo history

●

●

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Seamless bypass mode

●

●

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Customizable signal chain

●

●

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Third-party plug-in hosting

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In this Pro Tools Expert review video, we take a look at Ozone 8 by iZotope, claimed to be the smartest version of Ozone yet. We test a handful of new features including the new Master Assitant which isn't too dissimilar to the Track Assistant we first saw in iZotope Neutron 1. The Master Assistant listens to a mix and provides users with mastering starting points with setting suggestions for:

EQ

Dynamics

Dynamic EQ

Limiting

This new Master Assitant feature works very well indeed. What we like about it is that it doesn't suggest any "creative" mastering decisions such as Tape Saturation or Stereo Widening, this focuses solely on providing users with an editable starting point or foundation from which to master from.

iZotope Ozone 8 features a wealth of powerful mastering modules, meters and features that can get your masters shimmering in no time.

A new addition to both Ozone 8 and Neutron 2 is a separate plug-in called Tonal Balance Control which is a visual analysis tool that communicates with all instances of Ozone and Neutron. Tonal Balance Control is a cool visual plug-in that helps users to shape the tone of mixes and masters. In the coming weeks, we will review Neutron 2 and Tonal Balance Control.

Update Regarding Visual Mixer Automation

Because the Visual Mixer is controlling parameters on individual plug-in instances (Neutron and Ozone) users need to enable the automation on those tracks otherwise there would be conflicts between parameters due to there being automation in both places.

Free Tutorial - What Is Tonal Balance in Mixing and Mastering?

In the recent release announcements for iZotope Ozone 8 and Neutron 2, a lot has been made about the new Tonal Balance Control plug-in that can also link these two tools together. In this free tutorial, from iZotope contributor Phillip Nichols, they explore this area of tonal balance. Over to you Phillip...

Tonal balance refers to the distribution of energy across the audio spectrum. Whether you’re an artist or audio engineer, understanding and managing tonal balance helps you achieve the desired effect—anything from a solo piano, jazz trio, dubstep track, or 12-piece mariachi band. You can visualize it as a signal’s frequency curve over time.

Antonio Morales Wins A Copy Of Ozone 8 Advanced From iZotope

In the Pro Tools Expert 2017 Christmas Competition, we offered the chance to win one of 31 great prizes worth over $16,000 in total. Antonio Morales is the winner of a copy of Ozone 8 Advanced from iZotope.

I work in a Mexican television channel named Canal Once, working in post production for 18 years. I also have my personal studio with ProTools where I work for commercials and production houses.

Like a post-producer I need to work with a wide variety of audio, but with the iZotope Ozone 8 Advanced I will be able to get much better results.

If you would like to win a prize like Ozone 8 Advanced from iZotope then go over to our Win Page and see what prizes we have on offer.